Open Thread: Mass shooting at gay nightclub in Orlando; at least 50 dead

Horrific news out of Orlando: A gunman armed with an assault rifle and other weapons killed at least 50 in a terrorist attack the Pulse nightclub in Orlando; more than 50 have been taken to hospitals.

The gunman, killed in a shootout with police, has been identified as Omar Mateen; the Daily Beast reports that he was previously investigated by the FBI. NBC is reporting that before the shootngs he called 911 and swore allegiance to ISIS.

NBC is also reporting that Mateen was a violent homophobe, according to his father. It seems clear that the club was deliberately targeted because it catered to the LGBT community. The father told NBC that the shootng was likely motivated by his son’s hatred of gays. “This had nothing to do with religion,” he told them.

His ex-wife told the Washington Post that he was an unstable and abusive man. “He beat me,” she saud. “He would just come home and start beating me up because the laundry wasn’t finished or something like that.”

Horrendous.

Meanwhile, 4chan trolls are busily spreading disinformation about the shooting.

Please post your thoughts, and any relevant information you run across.

Gawker says that he was a club regular for 3 years and his father said the event he believes set Omar off was only a few months ago.
So… If it is real? He shot up an entire club because he was lonely and couldn’t find a date?

You know what I give up. That’s enough internet for today.
Good night everyone.

Many poisons have tainted me. The poison of rage returns. My grief and despair are joined by my rage and indignation. I scream as I drive home.
The poison turns my thoughts toward my brothers. I know they love me. But they fear me. They fear what I am. The elder fears his sons will be like me. He does not need to say it. I know he does.
The other fears how I dress and feels the need to insult me for it. He fears that I knit and teases me for it. He fears that I speak so fondly of my best male friend, who is married and straight.

The poison is agitated in a volatile burst by the words: “armed gays don’t get bashed.” I am so infuriated to hear these words. Only the victims are to blame. The obvious solution is more guns. I am so fucking furious to hear these words. There is no problem that cannot be solved by increasing the number of guns.

My rage will calm eventually. But it exists now. I look to the antivenin of compassion. Please administer the compassion.

Fifty dead and the answer is more guns. Please administer the compassion.

1 less light in the world. Most of my family is in/from Brooklyn. This heroine isn’t 1 of mine, but, as a NYer, Brenda’s 1 of ours. And Flatbush too? Homegirl’s from down the block!? I’m sad but also a little proud 🙂
And can we talk about how moms is at the club on a Sat night getting her salsa on with her son? Quality fucking parenting! That’s kinda beautiful, right?

Our papers have gone down the route of comparing this to the Bataclan massacre.

I do not know how well planed was this massacre, but the Bataclan one was part of a bigger plot, and was really linked to Isis terrorism. Plus, the Bataclan is not a gay bar (however, there are regular gay events hold in it). So, except for the horror of the act, there are not really a lot of common denominators in those slaughtering.

Now, another thing that i fear, in addition to the political exploitation of the event, is a recuperation of it by Isis. Even if this group had not even remotly play a part in the assault, i guess it would eagerly use it for its propaganda, sucking even more “enjoyment” as so many islamophobic persons had been prompt to designate them as the invisible hand behind the attack.

I’m reluctant to assume this asshole was gay. Other people who visited the club said they’d never seen him before and memories of this sort of thing aren’t always reliable so it’s possible they were confusing him with someone who looked similar or something. Plus it’s a well established fact that mass killers ritualistically plan their killings months or even years in advance so he could have been going to gay clubs for that reason.

We Hunted the Mammoth tracks and mocks the white male rage underlying the rise of Trump and Trumpism. This blog is NOT a safe space; given the subject matter -- misogyny and hate -- there's really no way it could be.